I've been doing Wendler's 5/3/1 for about 10 months now. For awhile, doing the strict routine. As of lately, I've ben running into some issues.

I'm only able to go to the gym twice a week. Training a lift every 14 days hasn't been great. I didn't start out wanting to do this, but life gets in the way. My 1-1/2 year old, my job, music, wife wanting to also go to the gym, etc etc. Was going Mon/Wed/Fri..Friday would come and I'd go and do the bare minimum(just the 5/3/1) and it would usually never be a great lift day. Most Fridays i'd be so shot from the week that I'd end up just going home. So I switched to doing Tue/Thu/Sat. While that was doing great, the weekends are packed with quality time with the little one. Plus all the "other stuff" I can't do during the week. So 3 days a week just doesn't happen. It's all well and good till I actually get to that 3rd day.

That all being said, I've been debating "the other way" of 5/3/1 twice a week...training two big movements a day. Like I said above, training a lift every 14 days isn't optimal. I like the idea of two a day, but I i'd like to know if anyone else has tried this and done well? Also, how to train the accessories...do the big lifts first, then have at it with whatever is left in the tank...try to get through at least one movement for each lift and then be done, or breakdown the parts. I was also thinking about super setting the accessories....

Yes, I would have been completing cycle 4 but I got sick so my second day of 5/3/1 will continue next week.

I like it a lot! I've learned a few things.

1.) You need to space out the lifts. I've figured out that if I lift on Monday, and then on Wednesday, my legs are still sore from squats. So I pushed it back to Thursday and it makes a huge difference. It also allows me to kind of cycle my diet a little bit.

Monday: get in my 3 k calories and make sure I have a good carb load before going to the gym. With workout I estimate via Lose It that I hit 2600(or so) calories.

Tuesday: Protein up! Concentrate on getting in as much as I can with staying at or a little under 2600 calories. I can usually get 300+ grams of protein on these days.

Wednesday: Don't go nuts with eating but eat don't eat $h1t. Still try and keep my protein up but not as crazy as Tuesday.

Thursday: Repeat Monday.

Friday: Usually my cheat day, but I try to keep it real like on Tuesday.Saturday/Sunday: Don't go nuts, but don't starve. Make sure I get in my water, protein and fats.

2.) I need to eat in order to make strength gains. I doubt I'm losing weight, but who knows. I refuse to step on the scale(weighed in 2 weeks ago at 309lbs) and i'm a little nervous to. I want to get to 275, but this is going to be really difficult while trying to get stronger and put on muscle. I think I really need to work on tightening things up in order to accomplish both goals.

3.) The second lift suffers a little bit as you aren't 100% fresh. Meh, It doesn't really bother me, but if you aren really in to BP and OHP, this might bum you out a bit. Me, I don't care. I hit my reps on those two exercises and continue to make slower progression. Squat and DL I always hit extra reps on the last set. OHP and BP< not so much.

Hit 8x385 on DL, estimated ORM 487lbs. Last time I tested max I hit 1x455Hit 5x320 on squat, estimated ORM 373lbs. Last time I tested max I hit 1x355

I'd say that's progress! Going to finish out this cycle, do one more then deload and test maxes again. After that, either continue on this path maybe do a few weeks of hypertrophy based workouts before going on vacation, try and drop shed some pounds with more cardio and then re-load a few weeks and hit it hard again.

I do the accessories exactly how they recommend, but I usually add in 3 sets of db shrugs at the end of day 2 because I feel like I need it. I feel like this routine is working for me and I'm the strongest I've ever been. I'll tell you how it's working at the end of the year if I hit my goals.

in the article wendler writes you should use rest-pause for the bench, press, chin up and the arm work. but why is there only data for rest-pause for bench and press in the tables of the article and just 1 set + warm up sets of the assistance work? how do you do it?

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum